The State of Complex Data in January 2016 [INFOGRAPHIC]

This infographic is based on independent research and surveys conducted by Ventana Research and the Aberdeen Group, and supports the notion that we have mentioned here more than once – i.e., that data complexity is on the rise. This is due to the size and number of data sources growing exponentially with each passing year due to technological advancements in data collection, storage and querying technologies, along with increased adoption of business analytics tools.

As can also be seen above, a growing amount of organizations are dealing with data that is big, disparate or both, with a quarter of organizations expecting their data to grow by more than 30%, and more than two thirds expecting it to grow by more than 10%. While definitions of big data are somewhat murky, it’s still noteworthy to mention that 57% of organizations reported using it, with another 23% reporting plans to use it within the next 12 months.

As for the diversity of the data – 71% of organizations analyze more than 6 data sources, and an astonishing 23% use more than 20. Doubtless, today’s data comes in many shapes and forms, posing new challenges and presenting new opportunities.

This guide covers the topic of data complexity and presents the distinction between Big, Simple, Diversified and Complex data, and will enable you to understand the complexity of your own data and how to determine the best tools and techniques you’ll need to use in order to prepare, analyze and visualize this data.